Life and enigma
by a blithe soul
Summary: A vacation to strengthen father-daughter bond turns into devastating discoveries. When fate plays a cruel trick, do you retaliate or give in ?
1. Tragedy and Misery

_The Tragedy of life is, what dies inside a man while he lives- Albert Schweitzer _

* * *

**Chapter 1 : Tragedy and Misery**

"You cant keep doing this Nik ,enough is enough, how long do you plan on going on like this ?" Rebekah says, her voice melancholic. "You're life isn't yours only, don't you realize that ? And its been a long time, move on" She almost chokes at the last words.

_Move on_, she was asking him to move on, when neither she nor their family has gotten over the grief that struck them. But its been a long time, 2 years and they can't go on like that anymore. It wasn't fair to them or to the little girl.

"Look at her, Nik, she doesn't deserve this, she's already lost _her_ and you being like this, its like she doesn't have you either"

Nik looks up, his eyes still flooded with pain ,he looks at the little angel sitting on the couch and her eyes fixed out of the window. Her gaze seemed to be searching for it was the same thing he was searching for, waiting for.

" This cant go on Nik, you can't go on like this, at least try for her " she continues in a low voice.

He looks at his 4-year-old daughter ,she was the spitting image of her mother, her golden locks shining under the light, her locks were a perfect combination of her mothers sunny and perfect blond hair and his messy sandy blonde locks, her soft pale skin were just like her mother's and she glowed just like _her _as well .The only feature that she had different, was the stunning pair of emerald orbs. She had his eyes.

Suddenly she looked at him , big wide emerald pools stared at him. They looked blank. There seemed devoid of mischief , happiness , sadness or any other emotion.

How could she turn out to be so ? Her mother was the most exuberant person he met. She was like sunshine , bright and happy ,her happiness was contagious,making everyone around her happy. Now her 4-year-old daughter looked as if she had nothing to live for.

" Do you see what you're doing to her Nik ? You've pulled her into your darkness. She is four Nik , she's supposed to be running around ,laughing ,playing, doing anything but sitting home and looking as if life had nothing else to offer. Its been 2 years Nik , she isn't coming back , you have to accept the fact that she is gone , Caroline is dead. And its your duty to look after Casey . And look at what you're doing. Do you think Caroline would have wanted this for her daughter ? How would she feel if she saw Casey like that ? Get a grip Nik , be a father to Casey instead of the grieving husband to Caroline.

Rebekah's words sunk in. What has he done ? Caroline will never forgive him. He stood up , went to his daughter, and pulled her into a tight embrace.

Rebekah looked at the scene in front of her , tears brimming in her eyes as she saw the father and daughter crying silently in each others arms . How she wished Caroline could come back and free them of their misery. But at least Nik attempted to be normal today. Maybe she can finally get her brother back and help him start a normal life again. She walked out of the room.

He has been spending his days with his daughter, trying to be a father that he failed to be for a long time, he was trying his best to make up for lost times . But relating and bonding with your four year old daughter is difficult when she doesn't act like she's four, rather an indifferent girl in the primary stages of adolescence.

"Casey," He calls her out.

She looks at him in response.

He sighs, she is a bit cold towards him. What he can't figure out is that if it's because of how he treated or didn't treat her like for this long or simply because that's how affected she is by her mother's death.

Can a four-year old be this affected ? Can she really understand death and pain ? Probably not. She probably hates him for being the worst father possible.

Guilt grips him at his finding. He has to mend this. But how ? This place, everything here, they all remind him of _her_, making it impossible to forget everything and move on. He needs to get away.

That's it. They need to go away, at least for a while. Start afresh !

"Casey, how about you and me, we go away somewhere ?" He asks her slightly excited.

She looks ay him, her eyes wide. Surprise, the first feeling he catches in her eyes in a long time.

" Like a holiday, daddy ?"

"Yes, a holiday, we can go wherever you like, anywhere on earth, how about Disne-_"

"Italy" she cuts him off.

Her words shock him. Italy ? _Italy ?_ What did she know about that place ? Why on earth would a four year old demand to go to Italy ?

"Why do you want to go to Italy, sweety?"

"That's the place mommy is, I heard grandma saying that to Aunt Bekah, I wanna go there and find mommy" She was crying.

The poor girl missed Caroline so badly, just like him. Maybe she was right. They should go to Italy, find closure and then start afresh.

**_When I updated this fic, I was nervous and I published it without editing. So now I present an edited version with slight changes. _**

**_Sorry for any mistake it has. Hope you like it. Reviews and suggestions are welcome :)_**


	2. The cradle of woe

_2 years before_

"_Hey, so I'm on the plane, it should be leaving within five minutes,I should reach by 8.30 or so." She says._

"_Great, I'll be there , and when you get here we can talk about your punishments for staying away for such a long time" he says._

"_I've been gone for only a week Klaus, anyways, got to hung up , I love you, give Casey a kiss for me , bye''_

"_Bye , love you too"_

_15 minutes later , he received the news that devastated his life._

"_Niklaus , I think you need to see this," his mother called out._

"_What is it mother ? I have to feed Casey". But he felt a surge of panic flow through him as he looked at his mother. Her face was as pale as snow, her eyes clearly terrified. Besides her Rebekkah looked stupefied. Elijah was on the phone with some-one._

"_Whats going on ? What happened ?" Klaus asked. Neither Esther nor Rebekkah could say anything. That's when Kol came in the room and tells him, "The news Nik, look at the damn tv"_

_Nik was surprised by Kols tone. At this moment everyone around him was confusing him and terrifying him simultaneously. He looked at the tv, there was a plane crash near Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport at Rome. The flight which took off 15 minutes earlier had crashed. Causes for the crash are to be investigated. What did that mean ? Was it the plane Caroline was on ? It couldn't be so ._

"_Why are we watching this ? This is'nt Caroline's flight, so stop worrying she is fine" , Klaus says._

_Elijah intervenes, " Niklaus , I am very sorry but it was the flight Caroline was on , I just finished talking to the airport . But there is still hope , …."_

_Klaus couldn't make out rest of the words, as he lost consciousness and within a few seconds everything went black._

_He wakes up an hour later, to be greeted by his sobbing mother and sister. Elijah and Kol on the phone. What was wrong ? Suddenly he remembers, Caroline, the plane._

"_Is Caroline ok ? Did they find her ?" he asks._

_No one looks at him, neither does anyone answer him. And it aggravates him. " I asked, where is Caroline ?" Klaus shouts. Everyone pauses to look at him._

"_Nik , they are still looking , there's no news of Caroline yet, its still too early to say anything but all we can hope for is that she made it" Kol replies._

_Klaus looks at his younger brother dumb-founded. He couldn't comprehend anything. He closes his eyes and begs to whatever entity that exists that his Caroline remains safe._

_12 hours later, identities of those I injured and dead are revealed. 2 bodies missing and one of which was Caroline._


	3. A bolt from the dreams

Words fell short to describe Rome's beauty, the huge wide roads with obelisks or the magnificent statues, everything was grand. Grandeur was etched in every single thing in Rome. The huge statues , the building designs everything looked like they were made by the Gods themselves. Amazing architectural pieces at every corner.

It felt like they travelled back in time to be in a city of the gods. Everything about Rome was breath-taking. Growing up in London , Klaus has been to Rome countless Rome's magnificence never failed to mesmerize him . He was a devotee of art and Rome probably has the richest culture and history in the world.

According to him , Rome was heaven on earth .Yet, this aesthetic heaven was the source of all his pain and being here caused his heart to wrench .

This very place is the place where he lost his Caroline . Being here only adds to his dismay . But he's not going to let his grief dominate his emotions. He is here for his daughter. This is going to be their closure. They are here not to relive the pain but to let it go . After that they'll start over their life again and be normal, just the way Caroline would have wanted.

Klaus looked at his daughter. She stared out in awe, obviously staggered by the beauty of Rome, but there was something else in her eyes that he couldn't quite place. Pain perhaps or maybe something more, maybe she feels close to her mother here .Her eyes carried her emotions just like her mother.

Sometimes her eyes would express all her emotions and sometimes her eyes would be an enigma beyond comprehension. Amazing how much Casey resembles her mother.

He could see so many conflicting emotions in her. It was astounding as to how mature his 4 year old looked right then and there. Harsh realities of life have rendered her mirthless.

Remorse hits him like a ton of bricks as he feel again that his ignorance was also to blame for her present state. Would Caroline ever forgive him ? How would she feel if she saw how her little Casey was now ? He has to go a long way to help Casey regain normality.

And it seems befitting that he strengthens the father-daughter bond in this beautiful city. Besides , he has a lot to teach her about Rome, its arts , history and culture. Unless she turns out like her mother and only indulges in food and shopping. He smiles inwardly at the thought and looks at her again. Something tells him she's just like him in this matter.

" How do you like Rome, sweetheart ?''

"Its beautiful " she replied , but her voice was thick and he realizes that she's trying to hold her tears from falling . Klaus hugged Casey and she gives in and begins sobbing.

"Ssh, sweetheart don't cry" He says trying to console her. Pacifying was the art Caroline was deft in and he a novice. He's unsure of how to confort her and it becomes hard for him to control himself as he himself feels his throat tighten and cheeks moist. Maybe coming here was a bad idea. What was he thinking ? None of them could go through with this. He should just book tickets for tomorrow and go back home.

"Maybe we should go back tomorrow sweety, we don't need to stay here"

"No, daddy. I wanna be here , I have to find mommy. I don't wanna go home now" she says half crying.

"okay , I get it sweetheart" he says hugging her they remain like that in silence rest of the way.

They reach their hotel. Their things are brought upto their room.

Leave it Kol and Rebekkah to manage their tour. They are in this wonderful historical place and Rebekkah and Kol go and book them a suite in this modern hotel which though evidently posh seems to have no deference for Rome's culture or history, very much like his annoying younger siblings.

He should have let Elijah handle all these. But he smiles when looks at Casey. She seems to like the place.

"Casey, do you want to go put for dinner or order in here ?"

"I wanna go out daddy, eat the last thing mommy ate here"

Klaus looks at Casey slightly surprised.

*_Flashback* _

_"I'm leaving now, I'm gonna have an early lunch at this amazing place Jenna recommended, apparently they have the best pasta" Caroline says excitedly._

_ "Out of all the delicacies Italian cuisine has to offer you go for Pasta ? You should try something new and different, don't you think love ?" Klaus says from the other end of the line" _

_"I know, I know but you know how I love pasta and I'm gonna leave this place with the taste of worlds best pasta in my mouth"_

_ Klaus chuckles, amazing how she manages to make everything so amusing. _

_ "Fine love, just don't be late to reach the airport, we don't want you to miss your flight" _

_" I wont, I'm checking out of the hotel now , gotta hang up now , I love you , give Casey my love and millions of kisses" Caroline replies back._

_"Now that's harsh love, no kisses for me ? Your dedicated and eagerly waiting husband" he says his voice feigning a hurt tone._

_ She laughs at this, "Oh, you'll get your kisses alright, have patience "Love", bye , I'll call you when I reach the airport"_

_ "Bye, I love you too"_

_*Flashback ends*_

"Last thing your mother had was pasta sweetheart, so pasta it is for dinner then ?"

Casey nodded.

"Sweetheart go on and take a shower freshen up and take a small nap if you like then we'll go for dinner"

"Okay daddy"

Klaus lied down on the bed, closed his eyes, memories of Caroline flooded him. 2 years she's gone, and yet his wounds his feel fresh . 2 years she's been gone and he still loves her like there is no end. 2 years she's been gone , and he feels she'll come back one day , knock on his door and hug him tightly when he opens.

He still hopes she is out there somewhere, that she's alive somehow, because the alternative is just too painful for him to accept. But everyone around him seems to believe the alternative, maybe he should accept it too. At least for Casey's sake .He doesn't realize when he falls asleep amidst his train of thoughts and memories of Caroline dominate his dreams.

* * *

"I'm ready daddy, lets go"

Klaus took her hand, " Lets go sweetheart, I'll take you to an amazing place after dinner"

"Where ?" she asked .

"It's a surprise, but I'm sure you'll love it" He says with a smile.

They went to a pasta place near the Trevi fountain. He planned to show Casey Trevi fountain. It was a beautiful place, both he and Caroline loved it.

Klaus looked at Casey. The pasta was too spicy, her nose was red, she had tears in her eyes, yet she was adamant to finish it.

"Sweetheart, its too spicy, you don't have to eat it, just leave it and order something else"

"No ! I'll have this, um ok. My mommy loved this, so I love this as well" she said with a fierce tone. Klaus looked at her , astounded by her tone and obstinacy. She realy had taken after her mother, obdurate and doughty. He chuckled at that.

"Okay, finish it, I'll order you some more Soda"

They finished dinner. Casey was still in tears from the spicy pasta. So he took her to a small gelato ship nearby.

Then they went to the trevi fountain.

"Wow, this is great daddy, its so pretty !" Casey says enthusiastically.

Klaus was glad. Finally Casey was coming around, showing excitement like normal kids.

"Do you wanna throw a coin sweety ? It's a tradition here, they say if you make a wish and throw a coin in the fountain , the wish comes true"

Casey looked at him with a glint in her eyes. There was something in her eyes, which oddly seemed like hope to him.

"Really ? I'll get whatever I wish for ?" . She asked this with such alacrity and expectation that Klaus couldn't say no.

" Of course , sweety whatever you wish for, it'll be fulfilled."

He didn't like to lie and he was suspicious of what Casey would want. And if it is what he thinks it is , it'll break her heart when it remains unfulfilled.

"Give me a coin daddy !"

He took out a coin and gave it to her. She closed her eyes shut and wished for something with her hands clutched to her chest, and then threw the coin. She seemed happy. It warmed his heart and broke it at the same time.

"What did you wish for?"

She looks at him, eyes brimming with excitement and anxiety,

"Mommy!"

He was contrite. She really asked for that. He was right. He looked away. It was a bad idea bringing her here and worse was giving her false hopes. She wished for something which was never going to happen. He was doing more damage then he was doing good. He growled in frustration.

But then he notices something, Casey isn't with him anymore. Where was she ? She was just standing next to him a moment ago.

He looked around, she was no where within his sights.

He walked around looking for her, where was she.

He looked around frantically and then spotted her.

He sighed in relief, then began walking towards her. Suddenly he notices something else, and stops dead in his tracks.

Impossible, It couldn't be. Casey was crying and a woman had her in her arms. A woman with sunshine blonde hair, glowing skin and piercing baby blue eyes. A woman who looked like his presumed dead wife and undoubtedly was her, his Caroline.


	4. Staggering discovery

He stood immobilized, unable to move or breathe, he couldn't fathom what was happening. He had imagined something like this a million times in his head. That some how like this he'd find Caroline . That she'd come back. But all those seemed to be of no help , he was confounded . He stared at her hard, its her, same golden locks , same azure eyes. She was her on her knees hugging the little crying girl, Probably consoling her. Did she recognize her daughter ? She must have , or else why would she hug her like that ? But where was she all this years ? Questions burned in his mind ? What the hell was happening ?

He finally regained composure, and walked towards them. He stood near them, tried to speak , but nothing came out. He felt miserable being this close to her, he wanted to hug her badly , kiss her , feel her against him. She looked up at him , their eyes locked and for that moment the world disappeared, it was just them. It was just the same , even after all these years, there was a connection every time they'd look at each other and it was still there. Klaus felt relief and felt a small smile play in his lips.

" I'm sorry , is she your daughter ? I think she's looking for her mom , she just ran towards me and was crying calling out her mom, so I hugged her. So, you're her dad, right ?" She looks at him quizzically. And she stands up, moving Casey away, who is still crying.

And the world falls apart. She sounds like Caroline , she talk like Caroline but what the hell did she just say ? Is she Caroline ? She doesn't remember him ?Was she screwing with him after making him miserable for 2 years ? He felt anger surge through him. He then takes her shoulders roughly and shakes her.

"Caroline, what the hell are you talking about ? Don't you recognize me ?" He shouts at her.

She's terrified, her azure eyes staring at his in shock, fear and confusion. It takes a minute for her to comprehend the situation.

And then she shakes his hands away with force, slaps and shouts at him,

"Who the hell are you ? How dare you … ?

But she stops mid-sentence , and her eyes turn wide. She asks him in a very low voice,

"Did you just call me Caroline ?"

Klaus looks at her, astounded by her behavior. She slapped him and now she's asking him this ridiculous questions ? What was wrong with her ?

"Since your names Caroline , I would be calling you that, don't you think ?"he replies sarcastically. She looks at him with something in her eyes, he can't quite place.

Then she says quietly again, "You know me" . It sounded like a question and an answer at the same time.

Klaus's head began to ache, what was happening ? Was this even happening ? Or is this one of his dreams ? He couldn't comprehend anything. Here he was in Rome vacationing with his 4 year old daughter and they meet Caroline who was now talking rubbish.

"Caroline, this is ridiculous, what the hell is wrong with you ? Where have you been all this time ? Did you even think for once what we went through ? Me, Casey, Rebakkah , Kol, Elijah, Mom, your friends. 2 years ? 2 fucking years we live trying to grasp the fact that you're no more, every dawn breaking the news again and again , every night bringing seclusion and memories of you. Everyone back at home still mourning for you , and you're here living your life like nothing happened , like you have nothing left back in the states, what the hell where you doing ? tell me, answer me !" He shouts and suddenly his face is hit with a hard punch.

His surprised by the sudden attack and is with such force that he falls down. He opens his eyes, looks up and sees a very pale looking Caroline whose sweating and crying silently and a man hugging her. A man who had dark black hair, his back was turned to Klaus. This was probably the thousandth time for that day that he was confounded beyond comprehension. Caroline's eyes were locked in his, she was stiff, she wasn't hugging the man back.

Confusion and shock was quickly replaced by jealousy and rage in Klaus Who the hell was this man ? How dare he hug Caroline right in front of him and punch him without any reason ? He gets up, walks up , pulls the man away from the hug with force and punches him with all his might. The man falls hard on the ground. But he gets up quickly and gets ready to punch him , but Klaus stops his hand mid-way.

The man asks him with an accent which has slight Italian in it,

" Who the hell are you? Talking to her like that , huh ? Shaking her like that ? get the hell out of here before I break every bone in your body and don't even dare glance at her again" the man threatens him in a cold and menacing voice.

"And who the hell are you to tell me to stay the hell away from her , I should be the one breaking your bones for touching my wife!" Klaus replies with a tone even more menacing.

The man stops breathing, wide cobalt eyes looks at Klaus in shock.

"What the fuck do you mean your wife ? She's my fiancée !"

Its Klaus's turn to be dumb-founded . He looks at Caroline,

"what the hell is he talking about Caroline ?" His voice low, pain and confusion evident in it . Both men were now staring at her for some explanation.

She still looks confused and she was still crying. She takes a few deep breathes.

"We should all talk, lets go to our house" She says quietly and leaves. Both men still stared at the place where she was standing. Little Casey who has been ignored while all this transpired looked confused and frightened as well. Could some one explain what the hell was happening ?


	5. Set the scene and start the fireworks

_There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart's desire. The other is to gain it_- George Barnard Shaw

Life is an enigma, to find solution to its abyss of mysteries is like grasping for a needle in a haystack. Sometimes we're put at such cross-roads that we have what we desire the most right before our eyes yet we cannot have them. Klaus laughed wryly. Fate played a cruel game with him and his 4 year old daughter. After everything they went through facing a situation like this is beyond human tolerance. This was probably a moment he prayed for a million times, to find his Caroline, to see that she's still alive. But karma seems to hate with great passion. It's given him the thing that he desired for so much for such a long time, but how ? In the form of an engaged woman who has no recollection of any memory of him or his daughter. Yet he is calmly sitting on the couch of a house that probably belongs to his wife and her fiancé. He looked at her, Caroline. He was certain it was Caroline and there were a million questions swimming on his mind. She looks pale, perplexed and lost in her thought.

The man, her so called fiancé was standing at a corner looking at her intensely, he looked like he was afraid, probably afraid of what was about to transpire in that very room and its consequences, his mind seemed to be mirroring the same fear and anxiety on Klaus's mind.

Little Casey, so mature for her tender age of 4 , left the room a while ago telling that she was tired and wanted to take a nap.

The air of the room was thick with tension and the silence was piercing. Klaus couldn't take it anymore.

"We're here to talk not sit in silence, there are a thousand things to explain"

"We can go to the explaining part when we know the truth, how do we even know you're telling the truth? What proof do you even have ?" The dark haired man responded haughtily.

"Proof ? You want proof?" Klaus asked angrily as he took out the picture of him and Caroline holding little Casey right after she was born from his wallet and handed it to Damon.

"Do you want more photos ? Because I have a thousand of them back home. And if you want more, why don't we take Caroline and Casey for a DNA test, that'll prove everything anyway." Klaus, fury dripping from each syllable.

Caroline finally spoke up.

"Damon, please, calm down, and you should calm down too Mr.." She looked up at him, embarrassed that she doesn't yet know his name.

"Nik, you used to call me Nik" Klaus said, clearly hurt.

She replied hesitantly, " Right, Nik, please come down, we can solve this in a peaceful way, please sit down, both of you"

Both men calmed down and sat.

Klaus looked at her, he needed to know how she ended up here with this man when everyone thought she was dead, her body missing. But he wasn't sure how to ask

" So tell me, how did you this happen, I mean you being here and do you remember the crash?" He asked softly.

"I don't remember the crash or anything else before, Damon saved me and has been helping me recover ever since".

The dark haired man, whose name was Damon, finally spoke up, this time in a very low voice which surprised Klaus.

"I found her, near Lago Traiano, I was there with a friend, and we found her and another woman, they were both in a pretty bad shape, we didn't have a clue as to how they ended up there, we took them to the nearest hospital. The other woman was dead but Caroline was still fighting for her life. She had a small purse clutched in her hand, but it was almost in tatters and most of the things in it were destroyed, there was only a card, which was fully destroyed except for the top-left part, which had her picture and a name below, Caroline. From that, we assumed her name was Caroline. And that was all we had on her"

Damon stopped to look at Klaus. His face was blank, maybe he was still registering everything in his mind.

"Why didn't you go to the police, file a report, tell them about her ?"

" Honestly, in a situation like that, it didn't even occur to us, I was in a bad place and came to Italy to stay with a friend for a while, and then finding Caroline like that was a huge shock, none of us thought about that, and it was a small hospital, outside Rome, they didn't bother much as long as they got paid for their service."

"Are you telling me, that in that condition, you took Caroline to a hospital which wasn't even bothered with its patients or any rules ?" Klaus spoke up, angry at the fact.

"It wasn't that much of a good hospital, but they did treat her well, and after 3 days I shifted her to a hospital in London" Damon replied to Klaus who looked like he was going to burst out again. Taking the hint as to what he was going to say, Damon quickly added, "Relax, I charted a jet for her" before Klaus could lash out.

His reply surprised Klaus, " Why would you do all that for a random stranger?" he asked.

Damon looked at him, agony and dejection swimming in his bright cobalt pools, " I lost my brother a few days before that. It was a hit and run, no body took him to the hospital, he died after suffering for hours. I could do nothing to save him, I felt if I would give Caroline the best treatment that somehow it would make up for that, I couldn't just leave her to rot in that place, I needed to make sure she survived and recovered, I felt like I had to do that for my brother, I felt it would at least do a little justice to him and how I wished some one would do that for him then"

Klaus looked at Damon, some how he couldn't hate the man anymore, no matter what the circumstances were , this man saved Caroline and had been through hell. Klaus himself couldn't imagine losing any of his siblings.

Suddenly Damon got up and left the room. Caroline looked torn, she seemed to want to go after him but wasn't sure if she should leave Klaus alone like that. She decided to stay, Damon needed some time alone, clear his head.

They remained in the awkward silence for a few minutes for a while, when Caroline finally spoke, irritated by the silence.

"So, now you know the story of I was saved or rescued or whatever"

Klaus chuckled at her words_. She was never the one to stay quite, she was always articulate ( a decent term for the real adjective, chatter-box)_.

"What are you laughing at?" She asked surprised.

"You're still the same, you were never the silent type, I'm just glad that didn't change"

"I'm glad, you're not annoyed at that"

"Why would I be annoyed ? That's one of your traits I love most"

His words came out before he had a chance to stop, leaving them both in an awkward position again.

"Damon never told me why he took you to London, I mean there are good hospitals in Rome"

"We, I mean, Damon lives in London, his business and everything is in London, his family is basically Italian and they've properties here, so we, I mean, Damon comes to Italy a few times a year. When my accident happened, Damon was here with a friend, trying to get over his brothers death, and he took me to London with him after a few days because he had to return, Stefan, his brother's killer was found"

"Oh," was all Klaus managed to say. Twice, twice she corrected her mistkae of saying we. It hurt, the simple mistake caused Klaus's mind turn into all shades of blue.

And thus they sunk back into the awkward silence.

"You're sure, its me ? I'm the Caroline you're looking for?"

Caroline suddenly asks him in a very serious tone,

Her question and the intensity in her words took him by surprise, but his answer was simple and confident.

"Yes, I'm sure its you, you're _my _Caroline"

"Wow, You're so sure of your answer, your Caroline?" She said, half-surprised, half-teasing.

"Yes, I'm very sure"

"How did you take it, i mean the news, you assumed I was dead"

"I never really got over that, And honestly, I never really believed you were gone, they didn't find your body, there was hope, there were still a chance that you were alive, out there some where and I prayed everyday that you were alive and that some day I would find you or you'd come back home, knock on our door and rush into my arms as I open it"

His intense words stunned her. The man still loved her, the way he spoke, it was like his life was devoted to her. She felt guilty, guilty that she din't reciprocate his feelings or remember them. She couldn't find words to answer him and found it suitable to change the topic.

"So , is there any one else in the family?"

Her use of the term "the" instead of "our" hurt him. She didn't seem understand what the impact of her words were.

"Well, my siblings and my mother, we would all live together and you're parents live in another state"

She suddenly looked alarmed. "My parents!". The probability or certaintly of having parents seemed to have made her happy.

She smiled, " I have parents"

"Yes, you have a huge family back home and you can't imagine how happy they'll be to get you back"

"Look, Nik, I understand what you're trying to say but I don't remember anything, I don't remember you, the big family you're talking about, my past life, I don't even remember that I have a daughter, what does that make me ? How can I not remember my own child ? Not feel anything for her?"

Her words were sharp, they not only cut through the still silence of the room but also his heart. _She doesn't remember me, Casey, anyone or anything. She doesn't feel anything for us._

His mind goes blank. What is she saying ? He can't find any words to reply her.

"Look, I want to know you, know my daughter, know the huge family in the States but a part of me doesn't even believe all this, this seems like a weird scene from a crappy drama,I don't know, if I can accept so many things suddenly, so many people and welcome them into my life. Trust me, I'm so happy that I finally have an identity, I'm not the lost girl anymore but I don't even know if I'm ready for all of this, I have so much on my plate right now and with the wedding coming up-"

"What wedding?" He asks cutting her off.

She suddenly realizes what she just said and replied hesitantly.

"You know, mine and-"

"Yours? Your wedding Love? Have you forgotten that you're still married to me. Do you think I'll just step out and let you marry some one else?" his intense words were fierce and aggrieved, which left Caroline stupefies and terrified.

**So, whats the verdict ? Did you like it ? I'm sorry if I sulked. The recent _Original spin-off_ story has left me bereft and killed my muse. **

**Thank you so much for the reviews. Your reviews are always welcome and I appreciate and thank anyone who has made the time and read this story, means a lot :)**

**You're most welcome to point out anything you want, or ask me any questions or simply give me ideas. **


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